Vitae Impact, Culture and Engagement (ICE) Award Nominations Longlist 2024

Newcomer of the year Award

• Dr Anne Marie Sowerbutts, Researcher Development Officer at University of Manchester. Nominated by Dr Cathal Rogers.

• Hanan Fara, Researcher Training and Development Officer at University of Birmingham. Nominated by Tim Giles.

• Klaudia Jasionwska, Former Researcher Developer at Edinburgh Napier University. Nominated by Dr Vani Naik.

• Megan Chance, Research Impact Development Manager at University of Birmingham. Nominated by Sarah Egan.

• Ola David, Data Science & Digital Skills Delivery Manager at University of Nottingham. Nominated by Victoria Sedman.

Outstanding contribution award

• Dr Alison Tidy, Research Fellow at University of Nottingham & Co Chair of UKRSA. Nominated by Dr Anjali Shah.

• Charlotte Stuart, Partnership Development Manager at Lancaster University. Nominated by Sarah Tooze.

• Dr Chris Wood, Head of Researcher Development and Research Culture at University of Exeter. Nominated by Peter O'Rourke.

• Eveline Uhlig, Research Staff Careers Adviser, Life Sciences at University of Birmingham. Nominated by Tim Giles.

• Gemma Coupe, Impact Manager at Lancaster University. Nominated by Professor Nick Dunn.

• Jean Bennett, Organisational Developer at Lancaster University. Nominated by Dr Amy Mayfield.

• Dr Julie Reeves, Senior Teaching Fellow / Professional Developer in HE at University of Southampton. Nominated by Dr Neelam Wright and Professor Francesco Shankar.

• Sarah Ashworth, Researcher Developer at University of Manchester. Nominated by Amy Smith.

Innovative and inclusive practice award

• Alice (Nok) Hang Hui, Research Associate at University of Birmingham. Nominated by Stephanie Smith for her work researching and developing ways to increase recruitment of Postgraduate Researchers from underrepresented backgrounds to the Doctoral Training Programme at CENTA, University of Birmingham. 

• Arinaitwe Deo Rugyendo, Founder and Editor in Chief at Research Finds News. Nominated by Dennis Aguma, Dr Apophia Agiresaasi and Rebecca P. Tumwebaze for his work bridging the gap between academia and the public in Uganda through his ResearchFinds News initiative. 

• Centre for Postdoctoral Development in Infrastructure, Cities and Energy (C-DICE) at University of Loughborough. Nominated by Professor Malcolm Cook for developing innovative approaches to support inclusivity for postdoctoral researchers. 

• Jack Fitzpatrick, PhD Candidate at Liverpool John Moores University. Nominated by Craig Hammond for his work and research in understanding and changing neurodiversity-informed practices in the workplace.

• Dr Jenni Jones, Associate Professor in Coaching and Mentoring at University of Wolverhampton. Nominated by Tracey Devonport for her work on a reverse mentoring programme that establishes opportunities for Global Majority Postgraduate Researchers to positively influence senior leads and decision-making. 

• Bethany Donaghy, PhD Student at Liverpool John Moores University. Nominated by David Moore for her work representing and supporting peers, especially advocating for better support and accommodations for autistic students. 

Research culture impact through researcher development award

• Anna Price, Rui Pires Martins, Amanda Langley - Researcher Development Team at Queen Mary, University of London. Nominated by Emma Caseley for their organisation of the Postdoc Conference, a flagship event of the Queen Mary Researcher Development calendar which enables key issues such as postdoc salaries to be addressed and acted upon, and is an important way of implementing the Environment and Culture aims of the Researcher Development Concordat.

• Centre for Postdoctoral Development in Infrastructure, Cities and Energy (C-DICE) Sandpit Programme at University of Loughborough. Nominated by Steve Christie for the positive impact the Sandpit Programme has had on improving research culture for postdoctoral researchers by providing a mechanism for developing skills on teambuilding, collaborative projects, interdisciplinary research and developing research proposals. 

• Early Career Researcher Network at University of Suffolk. Nominated by Andreea Tocca for highlighting the importance of Early career researchers (ECRs) in shaping culture and driving innovation within universities, and providing opportunities for mentorship and collaboration such as Lunch Talk Events, which have attracted a wide and diverse audience. 

• Judith Hegenbarth and Michael Dainton, Head of Research Skills and Head of Scholarly Communication Services at University of Birmingham. Nominated by John Dowd for their project ‘Understanding the impact of Open Research at the University of Birmingham’ which investigated the connections between Open Research practice to citation rates and policy mentions to explore the publishing behaviour of University of Birmingham researchers over time. Findings included correlations in Open Access publication and citations at the University, and an encouraging increase in Open Research activity in the institution.  

• Dr Justin Hutchence, Research Training and Development Manager at University of Oxford. Nominated by Dr Anjali Shah for significantly enhancing researcher development through diverse training programs, EDI innovations, and impactful mentorship, fostering a vibrant and inclusive research community, and for establishing representative structures to ensure that the voice of research staff are heard and can influence positive research culture change. 

• Organisers of the Enhancing Research Culture Workshop series at the University of York. Nominated by Francina Clayton for developing a series that addresses a broad range of topics related to research culture, and has been built into an important platform for discussion of research culture, not just in York but across the UK and beyond.

• The Prosper team at University of Liverpool. Nominated by Professor Anthony Hollander for providing essential tools and support for thriving across diverse career paths for postdocs. With funding from UKRI, the Propser team has collaborated with over 35 UK institutions, aiming to transform research culture by building a robust community of PIs and Researcher Developers and offering free, cross-institutional sessions on leadership and well-being, fostering a collaborative, inclusive environment for researcher managers. 

• Researcher Development and Culture Team at University of Leeds. Nominated by Emma Spary for their work on The "Research Culture Uncovered" podcast, a pivotal platform for sharing best practices and fostering dialogue to improve research culture. Featuring diverse voices from across the research community, the podcast's 78 episodes have had over 7,800 downloads, reaching 4,700 listeners in 80 countries, sparking international collaboration and engagement.

• The Researcher Training and Development Team at University of Nottingham. Nominated by Shineen Dewil for developing a researcher development provision that embodies a proactive and collaborative approach and fosters a supportive and inclusive research culture. 

• University of York Open Research Team. Nominated by Francina Clayton for their work promoting the values, principles and culture of open research through a range of different researcher development initiatives. The team have created an outlook whereby research culture is ‘open’, with The Open Research Fortnight featuring events for researchers at different levels.